The Cruz Fallout: "An Extraordinary Scene The Like Of Which Has Not Been Seen In A Generation"

"The Republican National Convention careened off the rails on Wednesday night as Ted Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump from the stage and was met with deafening boos. It was an extraordinary scene of disunity, the like of which has not been seen at a party convention in a generation."

As Trump Nominated, Christie Calls for Prosecution of Hillary At Convention: “Lock Her Up”

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:
While the Justice Department has given Hillary a pass on the handling of classified emails, the new Republican party is preparing to convict her in the court of public opinion, as Trump goes to war with Hillary Clinton.
Decades of crimes and misdemeanors have piled up on at the Clinton’s doorstep, but no scandal yet has brought the down.
But at the Republican National Convention, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took aim at the former Secretary of State and asked the crowd if they thought she was guilty.
Read More…

European Banks Soar As Draghi Hints At "Public Backstops"

If ever there was a reason for more European nations to 'exit' the sinking ship, Mario Draghi just spewed one. Having sent European bank stocks sliding with earlier calls for reforms, Draghi's wishful-thinking sent bank stocks soaring (especially Italian banks) after he noted a "public backstop is a measure that would be very useful and should be agreed with the Commission according to the existing rules." We can only imagine Herr Schauble's face when he heard this... and what about the Dijsselblom "template"?

Arrested HSBC FX Trader Had Been Cleared In Bank's Own Internal Probe

One day after news hit that a prominent HSBC FX trader was arrested, we find that the bank conducted its own investigation three years ago into a $3.5bn currency trade that US prosecutors now believe was criminally fraudulent and found nothing wrong with the transaction. The HSBC review was led by an external lawyer and found no breach of its code of conduct.

Japan Is Signalling The End-Game For The U.S.

by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:
On a side-note, it’s important to know that late July/early August is seasonally the most quiet part of the year for the biggest eastern hemisphere gold accumulators. And we’re going into the “roll” period, when the bulk of the massive blob of August paper gold “rolls” into December, the next “front month” for Comex Paper gold. Having said that, China has actually slightly increased its gold imports this month. India has been in hibernation since March 1 but it’s biggest seasonal buying period starts in about four weeks. Unless smuggled gold into India is significantly greater in volume than anyone understands, India’s demand will be somewhat price inelastic and its elephantine appetite for gold will have a big impact on the price of gold.
This leads us to Japan. Curiously, Japan announced announced last week that its TOCOM Untitledcommodity exchange (Japan’s less corrupted CME-equivalent) would begin trading physical gold – like the Shanghai Gold Exchange – on July 25th – TOCOM Physical Gold. It also announced that it would be introducing a delivery-at-settlement option for its current-month gold futures contract. That is, TOCOM gold futures buyers will now have the ability to take delivery of physical gold via TOCOM’s paper gold.
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Japan’s New $118 Billion USD Stimulus Plan. James Corbett – July 20, 2016

from Talk Digital Network:

China’s artificial island policy spurring Japanese militarism.

Could This Rally Be A Head-Fake?

If there's nothing supporting this rally but euphoric sentiment arising from orchestrated buying, any eruption of reality will reveal the rally as a head-fake.

10Y Bund Yield Falls Back Under 0% After Draghi Leave QE Program Unchanged In Less Dovish Announcement

Earlier we previewed the prevailing consensus which expected Draghi to announce some easing if not in monetary policy, then in the bank's QE program to make more German securities eligible. However, that did not happen and instead Draghi said that the ECB did not have enough information to take decisions in regard to altering the current QE programme, with no attention paid to specific instruments.

Philly Fed Slumps To 6-Month Lows As National Activity Index Jumps To 6-Month Highs

In the first wave of macro data today, initial claims beat expectations, dropping to 253k near record lows (but remains wildly divergent from tumbling consumer confidence). Following June's rebound in Philly Fed, July missed expectations tumbling to six-month lows, back to a contractionary -2.9 (against expectations of a flat print of +4.5). Finally, Chicago Fed's National Activity Index surged unexpectedly to six-month highs (+0.16 vs -0.20 exp) but the smoother 3-month avg remains in contraction for its 17th straight month.

Mario Draghi's "Whatever-er It Takes"-Promising ECB Press Conference - Live Feed

While sovereign and corporate bond markets might suggest 'all is well', the collapse of European consumer confidence indicates "whatever it takes" has failed and while Mario Draghi kept rates unchanged and maintained his global QE buying program, we suspect the need to offer another banal bone of hope for an artificial market running on fumes will overhwhelm any rational thought left in the former Goldman banker's mind.

ECB Keeps Rates Unchanged

As widely expected from the formulaic statement issued by the ECB ahead of Draghi's press conference, the central bank announced moments ago that it kept all three of its interest rates unchanged as follows:

• ECB keeps main refinancing rate unchanged at 0.00%.
• Leaves deposit facility rate unchanged at -0.40%
• Keeps marginal lending rate unchanged at 0.25%

Now attention turns to Draghi in 45 minutes where his press conference is expected to give some additional color on how the central bank will address the issue of rapidly disappearing collateral.

What To Expect In Today's ECB Announcement: "Time To Send Another Dovish Signal"

Following the previously noted fireworks from Kuroda, who in a BBC interview said that there is "no possibility" of helicopter money (which however the WSJ quickly added was based on an interview conducted in mid-June which supposedly means there is possibility now) In under an hour the market will turn its attention to the ECB's latest statement, where as SocGen's Anatoli Annenkov writes, it is "time to send another dovish signal."

Yen Soars, Stocks Slide After Kuroda Says "No Need Or Possibility For Helicopter Money"

In a surprising rejection of Ben Bernanke, BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that there will be no helicopter money in Japan, amid increasing speculation over monetary and fiscal policy in the world’s third-largest economy. Given the current institutional setting, there is "no need and no possibility for helicopter money," Kuroda said in a BBC Radio 4 program that was broadcast Thursday. “At this moment, the Bank of Japan has three options with quantitative and qualitative easing with negative interest rates."

Ted Cruz Booed For Refusing To Endorse Trump; Heidi Cruz Escorted Out To Shouts Of "Goldman Sachs"

Donald Trump's former rival, Ted Cruz was roundly booed after failing to endorse Trump during an address to the Republican National Convention. Chris Christie went to town on Cruz: “It was an awful, selfish speech by someone who tonight, through the words he said on that stage, showed everybody why he has richly earned the reputation that he has on Capitol Hill.” 

Beware of Junkyard Dogs: “This Isn’t A Really Normal Environment”

"Thank you Chair Yellen & Co. for rendering snarling, lawn mower toting junk bond dogs cute and cuddly critters to retirees on fixed incomes."

234 Billion-Dollar-Managing Fund Unclear Why Market Ignoring The Biggest Risk

"It's unclear why this hasn't been a significant driver of markets across the board... maybe we just haven't hit the threshold," exhorts $234 billion bond fund Invesco's Ray Yu. The head of the firm's macro research told Bloomberg that a general theme of political risks increasing or political risk premium has been prevailing for the last few years and we are now seeing tension between established political regimes and populist movements.

Sharia In Denmark

After the television documentary, "Sharia in Denmark", embarrassed Danish authorities by revealing how widespread the preaching of sharia is in mosques in Denmark; the Danish government, in May, concluded a political agreement about "initiatives directed against religious preachers who seek to undermine Danish laws and values and who support parallel legal systems."

George Soros Doubles Down: Accept 300k Refugees Costing $30Bn, Or Risk EU Collapse

Seemingly doubling down on his comments in April (following what he called Europe's "flawed asylum policy"), George Soros details his plan (over-riding the current "piecemeal approach") for rescuing Europe before it is too late. Simply put, the billionaire says the EU must take in hundreds of thousands of refugees a year, spend at least 30 billion euros (a minor sum, since he believes it can all be financed by debt and taxes) or Europe faces an "existential threat."

Silver Price Ignition or Money Reasserting: When Silver Investment Demand Merges with Industrial Demand

by Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Silver-coin-investor.com:

A long time reader and forum member posted the following with a question regarding silver industrial demand:
“The question that begs an answer, is how will this ultimately effect the monetary value of Silver and does that foretell a change in investment strategies?” (Full comment below).
In a market like silver, where price has not reflected true supply and demand for decades, an interesting syndrome evolves.
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DHS Says They are Looking for a Truck Bomb in Cleveland

from The Alex Jones Channel:

Mass Exposure to Neurodevelopmental Poisons Giving Rise to Generation of Young Millennial Voters Who Can’t Think Critically About Anything

by Mike Adams, Natural News:
According to shocking new science, 90% of pregnant women in the USA carry “detectable levels” of 62 chemicals that damage developing brains. As documented by Project TENDR (“Targeting Environmental NeuroDevelopmental Risks”), there is now “now substantial scientific evidence linking toxic environmental chemicals to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficits, hyperactivity, intellectual disability and learning disorders.”
From the Daily Mail:
Common chemicals found in plastic bottles, pollution and even makeup are harming the brains of foetuses and growing children, according to new research.
Scientists said the chemicals can lower children’s IQs and are being introduced into people’s lives with little review of the associated dangers.
Chemicals that are of most concern include lead and mercury, organophosphate pesticides used in agriculture and gardens, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) found in flame retardants, and phthalates, found in plastic bottles, food containers and beauty products.
Flame retardants, and traffic pollution and from wood smoke can also affect brain development in both the womb and in childhood, according to the new report.
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Hillary Clinton Declared Guilty by GOP Convention, but Story Is Even Bigger Than That

from The Daily Bell:
Chris Christie Made a Case Against Hillary Clinton. We Fact-Checked. … … Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, whom Donald J. Trump passed over to be his running mate, was one of the stars of the Republican convention’s second night on Tuesday, delivering a detailed case against Hillary Clinton with a prosecutorial zeal … Like many indictments, the facts presented to the Republican jury were sometimes selective: not necessarily false, but often ignoring exculpatory evidence. Below is a closer look at Mr. Christie’s case. – New York Times
The pro-Hillary mainstream media has been shocked by the GOP convention and often cited suggestions that Hillary Clinton ought to be in jail rather than running for president.
The New York Times even “fact-checked” Christie’s allegations and made a fool of itself doing so. But the GOP didn’t do much better.
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IMF Scraps Forecast for Global-Growth Pickup on Brexit Fallout

by Mark O’Byrne, GoldCore:
Following on from the Brexit vote last month the IMF have decided to re-evaluate their forecast for global growth.
Bloomberg reports that they have revised their original 3.2% forecast down to 3.1% for 2016 and from 3.5% to 3.4% for 2017. While these feel like very modest revisions ,the IMF would not be known for radical changes of direction preferring slow and steady revisions.
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“These Are The Danger Signals And They Are Flashing Now”

from Sovereign Man:
I’m excited.
Tomorrow starts our summer Liberty & Entrepreneurship camp, an annual event that our foundation sponsors in which some of my most accomplished friends and I mentor young students from all over the world.
This year we have students from dozens of countries, places like Indonesia, Ecuador, Nigeria, Brazil, New Zealand, Ukraine, Canada, Estonia, China, Venezuela, Singapore, India, and the United States.
We’ll spend five days together at a beautiful lakeside resort here in Lithuania helping them build real skills in value creation, business development, investing, and more.
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‘Bloody Massacres’: Syria Appeals to UN after French & US Airstrikes ‘Kill Over 140 Civilians’

from RT:







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